Alchemy in the Forest
by DragonLord15
Summary: When Edward gets turned into a cat by the mysterious Moonstone, can Edward fit in to the clans while trying to save the forest from the homunculi and get home? Or will this adventure be his last?
1. Chapter 1

" Edward, this night has been fantastic," Winry said in awe.

" Just like me, right?" Edward flashed a grin as Winry laughed and pushed him playfully. The streets of Central were filled with people, enjoying the warm summer evening. Vendors stood at street corners selling candy and treats to passing families. Windows on the nearby building stood open to let in the breeze, curtains fluttering.

Rounding the corner, Edward ran into somebody, falling hard on his butt.

" Hey, watch it you…" Edward paused as he beheld the suit of armor before him, panting heavily.

" Brother! Come quick, Mustang's in trouble!" Alphonse began dragging Edward back down the street, Winry running to catch up. The world flashed by, worry consuming Edward's mind like a hungry animal. What was going on? Mustang, needing my help? Edward would have laughed had it not been for Al's urgency.

Soon the sound of battle reached Edward's ears and, as he turned onto a narrow, abandoned street, he had to cover his eyes against the sudden burst of fire.

The fire, brilliant yellow and orange, disappeared as soon as it had come. The bodies of several men, black as shadows, lined all the way down to the intersection. Mustang stood in the middle of it all, panting from exhaustion. His uniform was covered with a random pattern of blood, his mixing with his enemies. The fire of battle gleamed in his eyes.

" Showed up a little late didn't you, Fullmetal?"

" I don't think you needed it," Edward said curtly. " What happened?"

" Nothing. I was just walking down the street when these men came out of nowhere and attacked me. The one who appeared to be their leader ran away, like a coward. He looked a lot like…

A strange whistling noise and a brief flash of air went be Edward's face and struck Mustang in the chest with enough force to knock him to the ground. Blood began flowing from the hole in his chest, racing down to the concrete like a mountain stream.

" S-sniper." Mustang gritted his teeth from the pain. " Get down! Now!"

Immediately Edward became one with the ground as a bullet his not two inches from his head. Backing away quickly, he was stopped by Winry, who lay shaking on the ground, covered with blood and grime. Sensing more bullets coming, he quickly clapped his hands together and created a wall, stopping the advance.

" Hold." The firing suddenly stopped, the silence buzzing in his ears. Al lay nearby; helmet off, a gun pointed at his blood seal. The man holding the gun was…

" Envy," Edward growled, anger flowing through his body. " How? You should be dead, you coward!" Envy gave a smirk.

" Great acting, wasn't it? I enjoyed watching your reactions. I won't tell you how I did it of course. A magician never reveals his secrets, as they say." He glanced at something behind Edward. " Ah, just the person I needed! Care to give me a hand, Wrath?"

Before Edward could react Wrath's strong arms had him in a headlock, constricting his air. Edward clawed at his arms, but to no avail. Slowly, enjoying Edward's pain, Wrath pulled out a knife and dragged it across Edward's left arm. Edward grunted as blood began to fall like rain. Still holding Edward, Wrath dragged him to Envy and threw him onto the bloody ground.

Envy stood up, putting the gun into his pocket to replace it with a strange sparkling blue stone, similar in shape to a philosopher's stone.

" They call it the Moonstone," Envy said, gazing into its depths. " They believe it lets them talk to their ancestors. Pathetic little fools."

" Who?" Edward asked but Envy ignored him. With more speed than Edward knew he possessed, Envy grabbed his arm and rubbed the blue stone against the cut in his arm.

It burned like a fire had started in his arm, crawling toward his heart. His head began to spin like a top, the world turning black at the edges. " Enjoy your new home, Edward." Envy flashed an evil grin and the world fell away.


	2. Chapter 2

Light slowly filtered into Edward's eyes and with a groan he slid them open slowly.

He was lying on the floor of a forest, big oaks reaching taller than buildings. The whole scene seemed…brighter than normal. All around him he heard the sounds of small warm-blooded creatures scurrying through the grass. He could smell them too Wait. Smell them? Quickly he got to his feet. No, paws! What was going on!? Spotting a nearby puddle he raced over to it and gasped.

A cat with golden eyes and russet-tipped ears stared back at him in shock. Russet stripes lead down his back to his half –white, half-russet tail. He also noticed the cat happened to have two automail limbs.

Edward dug his claws into the ground. What did Envy do to me, he thought.

Then he noticed the bleeding hole in his chest.

It began to sting and burn, blood dripping. He must have been shot in the fight and not have felt it. He shook himself as the world began to spin. He needed to find help. Walking like a drunken sailor, he began to stagger through the forest.

After an hour, he was about to run out of strength when he noticed something. The birds and creatures had gone quite. Nothing was heard. Edward looked around wearily.

Suddenly a dark tabby leapt from the undergrowth, knocking Ed off of his feet and landing on top of him.

" What are you doing in our territory you scum," growled the tabby. Edward growled back.

" Get.. off..me." Quickly he used his back metal leg to push off the tabby and he slowly regained his feet. Blood still dripped from his wound and he felt a bump forming on his head. He might not survive this fight.

" Brambleclaw, stop!"

Two cats, a white tom and a sand-colored female raced toward the tabby and stepped between them.

"Can't you see this cat is injured?" The female asked. As if a trigger had been pulled, Edward felt his legs give out and he fell to the ground.

Immediately the cats rushed toward him and sniffed at his wounds.

" It's okay," the white tom said. " I'm Cloudtail. We'll get you some help, just hand on. Sandstorm, run to get Cinderpelt, hurry! Brambleclaw, grab him by the scruff…gently please. Come on, he's already lost too much blood." As if in a dream he felt the tabby named Brambleclaw grab him gently by his scruff and began pulling him after Cloudtail.

Edward didn't remember much of the journey, just passing through a thick gorse tunnel into a clearing full of cats. The sight and smell overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes.

"Let me through, please. Give him some air!" A white female with cinder patches and a ruined hind leg hobbled toward him, her mouth full of herbs. She set down the herbs and sniffed the still bleeding wound. She sat back with disgust. " It smells of twolegs." She looked at him with pity as murmurs rippled through the surrounding crowd. Going through the pile of herbs she pulled out a pile of little brown seeds and set some by his nose. "These are poppy seeds. They will dull the pain and help you sleep," she explained. Slowly he flicked out his tongue and after swallowing some he felt the pain ease and sleep descend.

" He's waking up! Brambleclaw, get off my tail!"

Edward groaned, shifting his weight on the floor. Using as much energy as he could hold, he popped one of his eyes open.

The cinder-pelt, Brambleclaw and a cat the color of fire sat around him in a spacious den. The smell of herbs helped his concentration, and he opened the other eye. Carefully he tried to get on his feet but a wave of nausea forced him back down.

"Don't move yet! You aren't fully healed. Just slowly stretch your muscles," the cinder-pelt said.

After doing as he was told, the cat cleared her throat. "I don't believe we have been introduced. I'm Cinderpelt. This is Brambleclaw," she nodded at the tabby. " And this is Firestar," she flicked her tail at the orange tom who nodded in acnologment.

" I am the leader of Thunderclan. What is your name?"

Edward responded, confused," Ed..Edward. And what are clans?"

Firestar leaned forward and gave Edward a sniff.

" You smell like metal. Not a clan cat. A kittypet, then?" Firestar cocked his head.

"I don't know what any of that means. What clans?"

"This forest is home to four groups of cats. You are currently in Thunderclan. The other clans are Shadowclan, Windclan and Riverclan. To further clarify, a kittypet is a cat that lives with twolegs. Judging by your strange looking legs, you have been with them a while."

Brambleclaw leaned forward, green eyes intense. " How did you get that wound?"

"I…" Edward started but another wave of nausea forced his head down, breathing hard.

"All right, enough," Cinderpelt said. "Leave my patient in peace. You can bug him later." With reluctant glances Brambleclaw and Firestar left as Cinderpelt gave him more poppy seeds and he again fell into sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Edward, wake up. Edward, come on, I know you can hear me."

Edward reluctantly opened his eyes and raised his head. Daylight filtered through the opening of the den, illuminating Cinderpelt nudging him with her paw.

"Come on, its time to get something to eat." She gave him a look. "You can stand SLOWLY and you will lean on me, understand? I don't want that wound to open up again." Edward looked and saw that his chest was covered with sticky cobwebs that held the skin together and also matted his fur.

With a small nod he leaned against Cinderpelt and stood, as wobbly and weak as a newborn foal, blood rushing to his head. Slowly, at a snail's pace, they exited the quite den and arrived at the clearing.

Cats of all sizes sat in the dwindling sunlight. Some grabbed food from a pile in the center. Others sat by their friends and partners, licking each other's fur. A group of kits played under the watchful eyes of their mothers. Laughter and conversation filled the air but as they hobbled it stopped as all eyes turned toward them.

Ears and tail lowered with discomfort, he kept his eyes downcast and leaned on Cinderpelt as she lead him toward a group of cats with Firestar in the middle.

"Stay here while I get us something to eat," Cinderpelt said as she gently set him down.

Edward shifted uncomfortably.

"Hello, Edward," Firestar said kindly. "How are you feeling?"

"Um…okay I guess."

"Great! You'll be back up and running in no time. Let me introduce you to some cats of my clan. You already know my nephew, Cloudtail." He pointed to the sand-colored female that had run to get Cinderpelt. "This is my mate Sandstorm." She nodded at him with the same kindness as Firestar. "This is my deputy Graystripe." A shaggy grey tom gave him a small smile, yellow eyes twinkling. "And this is one of my warriors, Thornclaw." He flicked his tail to a young golden-brown tom. He flicked his tail in greeting.

CInderpelt returned with two freshly killed mice in her jaws and dropped one in front of Edward before plopping down beside him. Everyone dug into their food, leaving Edward looking at his mouse uncomfortably, to say the least.

Firestar, noticing Edward not eating, purred with amusement. "Never eaten mouse before?" Edward shook his head. Firestar purred again. "Give it a try. It's not so bad" Slowly Edward bent his head and took a bite and his eyes widened at the unfamiliar but surprisingly good taste. If he closed his eyes he could imagine he was eating chicken at Winry's…

Abruptly he opened his eyes to avoid the painful memories and continued with his mouse.

"What's this?" A new voice said. "Another useless little kittypet." Edward's fur bristled at the word and he turned to see a tom with patchy fur and a torn ear staring at him maliciously. The surrounding cats had stopped eating, muscles tense. Cloudtail was the first to speak.

"What do you want Longtail? I don't believe you were included in this conversation."

Longtail glared at Edward. "This little runt doesn't belong here." Edward stood up, anger giving him the strength he needed. "Are you calling me small enough to be a mouse?!" He launched himself at Longtail who narrowly avoided getting his eyes clawed out. Longtail tried to swipe at Edward's chest but he only met air. Edward sprinted behind him, kicking out his leg, and took Longtail's exposed stomach, he pushed his claws into the soft stomach. "Yield now." Longtail hissed and brought his hind leg up, scratching Edward as he pushed him off. Before he could continue, Firestar stepped between them. "Enough!" Firestar said angrily, eyes blazing. Abashed, Edward lowered his body but Firestar's anger was not directed at him. "Longtail, Edward is injured and is a guest and you should treat him as such. Go out on patrol until sundown before I do something regrettable." He turned back to Edward, anger lessening slightly. "You better get back with Cinderpelt and sleep. You need to recover your strength."

As Firestar walked away, Longtail glared at him and whispered, :This isn't over, runt."

Cinderpelt brushed against him and led him away from Longtail back toward the den. Her tail slashed back forth in a frenzy.

Despite being angry, Cinderpelt said nothing, for which Edward was grateful. When he reached the den he realized had exhausted he was and gratefully lay down. He sighed. It was going to be hard to ignore cats like Longtail. But he would live. It's all he knew how to do.

Cinderpelt gazed at the sleeping Edward with a sigh. She told him to take it easy but somehow succeeded in getting more injuries. It's like he didn't know the meaning of the word. She looked at him again. He certainly was a very strange cat, from his weird limbs to his temper to his way of speech, he was different from every other cat. She wished she knew more about him. She could see the pain and sadness that was far beyond his years in his eyes and it scared her.

Suddenly her vision darkened and she saw a strange red snake that seemed to be eating itself. An ouraborus. The unknown word came to her mind. She saw the brilliant blue Moonstone held around the neck of a black cat whose red eyes seemed to glare into her soul.

"The fallen warrior who controls the Earth shall come to defend and protect.

But the forest shall be lost if the Clans don't accept.

The seven shall rise and the hero shall fall.

And the blue Moonstone lost to all.

A fullmetal heart and a clever mind.

Can bring the peace and hope you shall find."

The voice ended and she returned to her den and the sleeping Edward. A sign from Starclan? It had to be. She trembled with fright. What were they going to do?


	4. Chapter 4

While Cinderpelt had her vision, Edward too received some clarification. His dream started off in a sunny meadow, a blanket beneath him and Winry by his side, watching the summer butterflies in the warm the sky darkened and Edward was struck blind by the darkness. "Winry!" He shouted, but there was no answer. Gradually the light returned and he saw himself in a familiar place. He gasped. The Portal of Truth!

"Nice to see you, Mr. Al-che-mist."

Edward spun around to face the white, no-faced creature known as Truth.

Edward grumbled. "What are you doing here?" Truth only smiled.

"The question is, Edward, how are you enjoying your time in the forest?"

Edward said nothing, which made Truth smile even more. "I have a message, and a gift, for you. Or, I should say, the message IS a gift, in a way. Your enemy and your friend come together to you, so be on your guard."

"What is that supposed to mean!?" Edward yelled only to find that Truth had disappeared. "Wait! Come back!" There was no answer and Edward found himself falling, falling into an endless blackness…

Edward jolted awake in his bed in CInderpelt's den, sweating and breathing hard. Slowly he calmed himself down and his eyes adjusted to the dawn light. He got up and began walking slowly into the clearing, still sore from his wound. He saw a cat on the night watch but otherwise he was the only one.

"Hey Edward." Edward jumped and faced Cloudtail, who flicked his tail in greeting. "Do you want to come hunt with me? My mate Brightheart is still sleeping and I thought I could show you around…"

"Sure." said Edward, and followed Cloudtail through the gorse tunnel.

Edward soon knew all of Thunderclan territory, thanks to Cloudtail. The had both caught a mouse and Cloudtail a vole. Hunting, thought Edward, wasn't so hard. It was all about the timing, which a lifetime of alchemy can teach you. They stopped by the river near Sunning Rocks to get a drink before heading back. Bending down. Edward saw a big fat trout swimming within easy reach." Hey, Cloudtail?"

"Yeah?" he said, maw wet.

"How come you don't eat the fish in the river? They practically swim into your paws."

Cloudtail licked his lips. "It's kind of Riverclans's thing, and it's harder than it looks."

Edward's eyes gleamed and he stepped into the river.

"Edward, what are you doing!?"

"Shh-you'll scare the fish."

Edward stood patiently in the water, trying not to shift on the loose pebbles. Soon he saw a trout swimming his way and he slowly extended his claws. As it passed by him, he lundged. He breifly felt the slimy skin before it swam away.

"See, I told you!" Cloudtail said, amused.

Frustrated, Edward pounded the riverbed with his automail. A surge of power flew through him and before he could move he was shot straight up in the air. Edward yelled in fright as he came back down into the water. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, didn't know which way was up. All he knew was that the river water ran cold hands over his fur, begging him to join the river on its journey. Edward began to involuntary suck in water.

He felt something grab the scruff on his neck and he was pulled onto dry grass. He coughed, spewing water from his mouth, and opened his eyes tiredly. Cloudtail gazed down at him with worried eyes.

"I…I'm okay," Edward said as he stood and shook his fur. "Just out of breath."

"What was that that shot you out of the water?" Cloudtail gazed at the water like it would jump out and attack him.

Edward gazed at his paws in utter shock. He had a pretty good idea what that was. Did I just use alchemy? Edward thought. Whatever it was, he needed to learn to control it. He gazed at the still-alarmed Cloudtail. And keep it a secret.

"I…I don't know," Edward lied, not having to fake the shock that was on his face. Cloudtail shivered.

"Let's go."

Quickly they picked up their fresh kill and raced back to camp. But the noise of their running feet and punning hearts couldn't silence the noise in Edward's mind.

"And something came out of the water…and…and shot Edward up and he landed in the river and I only just got him out in time!"

The crowd of cats gasped and listened as Cloudtail related their adventure by the river. Edward, choosing not to take part in the storytelling, sat eating with Cinderpelt by the entrance to her den. Cinderpelt, who had already heard the less exciting version by Edward, listened calmly to Cloudtail's version. But Edward was fidgety. Something wasn't right. The sky was blue, the wind was soft, the weather warm. But still something was wrong. Something was coming this way.

He stood up just as Mousefur came pelting through the gorse tunnel with Dustpelt on her tail.

"Run!" Mousefur screamd. "They're…" But it was too late. Huge black cats entered the camp and began laying waste to the surprised Thunderclan cats. A cat launched himself at Cinderpelt and Edward had just pushed her out of the way when he was bowled over. Edward squirmed and bit, but the cat had the advantage of size and experience. He gleamed at Edward with cruel yellow eyes and opened his mouth to give a vicious bite.

"Stop!" A voice yelled and the cat reluctantly let Edward up. As he stood, Edward saw that the Thunderclan cates were circled..and outnumbered. Edward growled soft;y.

"Well met, Edward Elric. I hope we're not intruding ." A mocking voice came from a small black cat near him. His red eyes glared at him and he had a small red dot in the middle of his chest. Around his neck hing a cooler of bones and claws and a small blue stone. The Moonstone! Edward's growl deepened and he launched himself at the cat. "Envy!"


End file.
